Maya Tutorial Magnifiying Glass

Here is my magnifiying glass i didnt have many problems with this task as i did with the dice task. But one problem that i found was with the first render it didn't look like their was glass in the middle of the magnifying glass so i decide to move the image around before rendering it again.
                                      

This was the final render that i was happy with after several attempts of moving the image around.

Feet Studies

Here are some studies i have done to help me understand how the foot works and looks from different angles. I have always had trouble drawing feet but i think that this sketches have help me improve skill whiles.

                                          

 

I decided to look at the anatomy of the foot by looking at the bones within the foot as well as the muscles to help me understand how the foot works.

After looking at the foot i decided to do a couple of quick thumbnail sketches of how the feet on my hybrid would look like and this is what i come up with. Even though this where quick sketches there are a couple of ideas that i like and would use in design my hybrid.

Photoshop

These are my first attempts of using photoshop. The first images were just me trying to get use to photoshop but with these piece of work i like the way that i have placed my image it is different form just a normal standing position and i think that i kind of relates to my animal.     

These next couple of images are using the same images as before but developing them. As i didn't think the first attempts looked human enough i tryed to make my next attempts more human.

Rough Ideas.

Here are just a couple of rough ideas that i have got so far for my hybrid. This was the first time that i tryed to put together my animal (Iguana) and human anatomy. I think these first attempt of joining them together has help me get a picture of what i want my hybrid to look like.The second image of the two is the idea that i would like to develop because i like the position i have placed it in but with this design it doesn't look human enough. I think that i will have to do farer studies on the human anatomy of the head and body to help with trying to make it more human.

Hand Studies

Here are some studies that i have done on my hand to help me with understand the human anatomy.

The next set of sketches i drawed where to help me understand how the hand works so i looked at the skeleton and the muscles in the hand. 

Once i understood how the hand works and how it looks i decided to try and bring it together with my animal. So here are just a few rough sketches i have done for how i would like the hand of my hybrid to look like.

Research into My Animal

Here are some drawings i have done of my animal to help me undestand the antomy which will help me with my hybrid. My animal that i have got it the Green Iguana. The first set of images are just sketchs of my animal so that i could just look at the animal from different angles and also different types that you can get to get a feel for my animal.

With the next set of sketch i looked at the anatomy of the iguana and the different features of the animal that i could use for my hybrid such as the hand, tail etc.

They are several different parts of my animal that i find interesting and think would be good to incorprate into my design. The first would be the tail /spine also the spikes that go down the back of the iguana. I also like the idea of using hands of the animal because i find them quite different and i am thinking about having the same skin on my portrait so that it gives texture and would kinf of show what type of animal i have been spliced with. These are just some intial ideas that i have got at the moment and now i have got to find of way to but them together with me to create my hybrid .

Film Review- Cat People 1942

Cat People is a horror thriller film directed by Jacques Tourneur in 1942. This film redefined the horror genre in Hollywood and many of the techniques that where used In this film are used in films today. This film runs on imagination showing just enough to get the viewers thinking.

The film Cat People tells the story of a psychologically traumatised young Serbian woman named Irena. Who lives in Manhattan and fears that she will transform into a panther if she is sexually aroused because of an ancient Serbian curse told to her by her ancestors. So when she meets Oliver Reed at the zoo he is drawn to the mysterious women and with in a short while they are married. But there are complications because Irena believes that she is a victim of the curse so their marriage is not consummated. So Oliver understands at first but his patience soon runs out and he sends his with to psychiatrist Dr. Louis Judd. He falls into the welcoming arms of his close female friend Alice Moore for comfort. Over time Irena becomes Jealous of the two and we finally see Irena’s true nature. The final scenes show that she was telling the truth when she is kissed by Dr. Judd she turns into a panther and kills him. The film is 73 minutes long but nothing is wasted from the beginning the tense builds until the finale when Irena is attacked by the panther she lets out of the cage at the zoo.

The film Cat People could be seen as a metaphor for sexual energy you can see this throughout the film. Firstly there is Irena who does not commit to her wifely duties but she is terrified that she will turn into a panther and kill the man she loves. You can see this best in the scene when they return form their marriage celebrations. Secondly it is portrayed by the male characters and I would say even more dangerously because Irena tries to control herself where as the men around her try to advance it needlessly.

But the film also focuses on romantic relationships and complex they are. We see lust when Oliver meets Irena he knew that he had to marry this woman but as time wears off he realise he should be with Alice. We see emotional distancing when Oliver and Alice make Irena an outcast during a visit to a museum.‘the middle-class world appears as a dull, dulling banality whose own self-confidence only partially masks an inability to recognize either its own problems or those of outsiders to its circumscribed value system.’ And there is also abuse of power which is Dr. Judd character shows.

When looking into this film I found this quote by Brandt Sponseller ‘Well, a lot of younger horror fans, for whom the oldest film that they are really familiar with in the genre is something like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) or an even more recent film, might be reluctant to call Cat People a horror film. It is "talky", doesn't contain any graphic violence, and we don't even see a horror creature/villain until just a glimpse near the very end of the film.’ but I disagree with this quote because it is a horror film. It does not have the bloody and violent scenes but it does have the use of darkness and shadow to create creepy scenes, suspense, scary jolts and a lot of dark mysterious thoughts. It mite have a lot of talking but that is important because it is explaining the curse and to get the viewer imagining it.

Cat People has great and memorable scenes which have made this film a classic. ‘Cat People has maintained its ability to scare’. For example the scene where Alice is walking down the street and Irena is following her. It has a great suspense building with every footstep then it suddenly goes silent. This makes for a great setup for a scary jolt made with the sudden appearance of the bus. This technique is still used today in films to make the audience jump out of their skin. 

 I found this one of the best scenes for in this film because it has a great build up of tension and when the bus suddenly appears it had me jumping exactly like Tourneur wanted when he made this film.

Another scene that was memorable was the swimming pool scene in Alice’s apartment in which the light on the pool makes the shadows change from human to cat like making the viewers suspense build. This is just one of the places Tourneur used the technique of darkness and shadows to create a dramatic atmosphere. Where the audience does not know what is going to happen or if anything is going to jump out of somewhere. It’s kind of like the bus scene it has you second- guessing and using your imagination.

I enjoyed watching this film because it wasn’t a horror film filled with graphic violence but it still had me jumping in some parts because of the techniques that where used. It was horror film that suggest more that which is their making this suck a classic to watch.